"Don't think so, Frosti." Pollimer turned to him, with a rather hopeful smile. "As much as I wish, there's nothing to salvage, and who knows? History tends to repeat itself."

Atomu breathed in.

"...a-and we're going through Kakinoki?" Elton asked.

"Haha, precisely!" Pollimer turned. "It might though, be a little good. It'll remind and show ya what Mirillians could do!"

Those words, although not directed at Chyuuichi, struck him as unpleasant and uncomfortable. For a moment, he was there, and that Mirillian inside him recalled the story Pollimer told, but then again, it was like looking through a thick fog.

Atomu kept eyeing Chyuuichi, now sure that something had gone amiss the other day.

"Heh." Bancho chuckled. "I guess they were right when they said Mirillians don't have the best memories. It was a goblin's attack, wasn't it?" he turned to Pollimer, who clenched his fist and nodded.

"Yeah, right."

Jyuzou made an unsure expression.

"...but I guess you could lump a few demons in an army." the old Morian continued. "No one would notice, then."

***

"Hmm." was the only sound that echoed through a small chamber, covered in a velvet, almost flesh-like light. Shi Hon sat on the ground, his legs spread apart, putting his fingers in different coats of paint. He dipped a few fingers in, and carefully traced the carved outline with his sharp nail, further enriching the composition before his eyes.

He stood up, looking out of the hole he created a year ago, and the night sky greeted him, with muffled, repeating sounds, resemblant of Lignorian wood crickets. A small fly flew above the Plateaus, flashing before his eyes.

He sat down at the side of his throne, breathing in.

Afterwards, the animal he had been peering at found itself inside a spider's web, unmoving.

Shi Hon squinted his eyes, before turning away.

Meanwhile, Soban was rather vivid. Most people eagerly walked around and chatted with one another, excitedly recalling the small time frame where someone other than Mirillians went inside and outside Soban.

"Exactly sixteen hours!" A bearded Mirillian said to one another.

"You counted?" A woman asked.

"You can count hours?!" Someone else added.

"It was a miracle, a blessing upon us Mirillians!" Someone yelled out.

Amongst all that commotion stood Nion, the person who Chyuuichi called out to in the hopes of proving something to the troupe, yet, he found himself weirded out by Chyuuichi's claims. All in all, he wandered with strange stress, as if he met a ghost. His face reminded him of someone, but much like noise or ripples in the waterfall it was muffled, or silent.

He couldn't shake off that feeling, and his mind started racing towards the possibility of a demon who only pretended to be someone they were not. He recalled Pollimer's words during a king's speech, about such vile creatures taking the life of a few Mirillians last year. Amongst those names sounded one he recognized and struggled to forget even through the happiest moments.

...and behind Nion, stood a bar, with a hanging sign that read Mother Pen, with a nice little shovel below the tinted words. The doors were closed, and the yellow light from the inside shone through the cracks, but no sound escaped through.

"Aishao's done a good enough job," Lisbeth announced, walking around on foot. Isak leaned against a wall, tapping his fingers against the fake wooden tables, Leopold's eyes carefully observed the red-haired demon. She leaned to the ground, still holding the heavy metallic chain tied around the woman lying on the floor behind the counter. "A demon of few words speaking much like those humans here."

Lisbeth let go, and grabbed tea from the counter, stirring it with a rusty spoon.

"What's your plan now?" Isak muttered as if annoyed with her attitude. "Shi Hon only wants one thing, which opposes... heh, everything you have stood far since Magna."

Leopold turned, eyeing the two.

"He already nudged the chances well enough for his own selfish gain. He gets what he wants, and I'll take a slice as well. Kakinoki isn't quite far from his temple." Lisbeth pointed, and Leopold turned to the drawn maps in his hands. "I already plotted well enough in advance. The second they step in, I doubt they'd be able to step out."

"Wouldn't put this anywhere near you if I were him," Isak uttered.

"Seems then, that I'm good enough." she walked up to him. "You weren't as one can tell."

Isak gritted his teeth.

"Lost an eye because a Morian stabbed you. Look what happened to Leopold and how healthily he recovered. Do you know why? Because you're not even close to achieving what he did."

Isak suddenly launched himself forward, destroying a table, and almost hitting Lisbeth with his fist. Lisbeth didn't step back. She stretched her arm out, and it found itself coated in thick blood gushing out of the carved wounds on her face. It quickly snapped to her side and pushed back into Isak's forearm. "Do you know why we vowed to fight with magic?" she whispered. "Because it's something those Demonears are still missing. A crucial part, is they don't believe in themselves, while we do."

Lisbeth jumped away, and Isak fell on the floor, right next to the woman who closed her eyes in fear. "Kill them at Kakinoki. No, screw that." she waved, with a grin. "He trusts his peon enough, doesn't he? If Kakinoki were to fail, it'd be completely up to us to achieve his goal. To make Shi Hon proud."

"You're a complete idiot, Lisbeth." Isak looked up. "We can't win with those Demonears. Even if we-"

"Even if we've gotten stronger." Leopold finished. "It's a chance. They could've only gotten tougher."

"...and you'd head for the weakest first." Isak stood up, turning to Isak. "Agh, why am I even considering any of this?! I'm not following through with your stupid plan!" he put his hands on his forehead. "Whatever it is! Stop beating around the bush and tell me!"

Lisbeth giggled, covering her mouth. The blood that covered her arm disappeared, splashing on the floor. "It's very simple. All of the demons I've summoned await in Kakinoki, and the army of the past gathered at my calling to prove that we can achieve great things as demons, eliminating the problem at hand. Even if it goes against Shi Hon's goal, he'll agree in the very end."

Isak shook his head.

"I'll tell them... head to the Star Sun Cave. Weaken them, sure, but it'll be me who slices their heads off. He'll never know. He'll think that I- that we!" she signalled, extending her arms. "That we're powerful enough to slay the Demonears. To fight against the tides of this world, to rule amongst the demons and humans. And oh, strong we are, my loyal, and dear friends. A fist strikes but a brain wins the war."

Isak sighed. "You'll never be stronger than Shi Hon."

"I'll always be," Lisbeth muttered. "But I won't be if I'm not."

Isak sighed, closing an eye.

"I admire your bravery," Leopold muttered, tightening his grip around the hammer. "You're throwing yourself into a fire that you may never find a way to extinguish. Going against Shi Hon's orders..." he readied the hammer, bringing it up into the air. The muffled scream of the woman echoed into his ear, but it quickly hushed, just as his hammer landed near her head. "...is something I could never do. Much like throwing yourself into a fire not knowing if there's a prize at the end."

"I like it when it burns, then."

And just as unexpectedly and quickly as they appeared, the demons left the city of Soban, with Lisbeth still carrying the teacup full of the drink. The joys of the Mirillians continued, with the seemingly confused Inigius strolling through the streets, rubbing his forehead.

"What on earth is all that commotion, ya rascals?" he added, playfully.

"Oh, King, stop that already!" one laughed.

"As serious I can darn be! Dunno what's going on." he laughed.

At the top of the castle-like building, a shadow shifted behind the windows, leaving a nude figure and turning itself into a pile of darkness, which quickly faded behind the corners.

***

A lot of the caves afterwards were empty, as opposed to the rocky obstacles they had to get through on their way to Soban. Firstly, they passed an open area without much bends, and its roof shaped itself in a helmet-like pattern. A few water streams went down the wall and landed in tiny rivers one wouldn't even notice. They'd disappear behind the wall and land in the caverns below.

...and talking about the grottos they were to see the further they went, after a few hours of walking through tight mines and passages made by Mirillians, the troupe dropped down into a big void, much to the disagreement of the two Paladians. Its sides were dark grey, seldom changing into a thick, mushy greenish-brown, and the boulders that created the foundations were these massive cubes.

Bancho trod carefully, Morio often sped up in excitement only to be yelled at by Jyuzou, and the others followed what Pollimer did, as he ensured that he knew a safe route.

Then, they stopped, sleeping for a few hours, eating a small meal, and continued down the cliffs and further below. The pressure started stinging, pinching their ears and sending a dim hush through, nevertheless, this was no reason to stop.

The dark grey rocks grew dangerous, and oftentimes it was Elton offering various tools such as the infamous elshuims to stick down the wall and move alongside to a safe boulder. Finding themselves halfway through, their next stop wasn't that far away, but the challenge that presented itself before their eyes was a massive hurdle to overcome.

While Atomu was pale and looked lifeless after the scariest parts of the descent, Elton was completely fine, constantly using his items to aid himself amongst the obstacles, much to Anna's annoyance, who later started warning him that she would make sure Ella never serves him his favourite drinks if he doesn't help out immediately, so Elton gave in.

Their combined efforts sped up the process immensely, but Elton lost a few sticks and stones he had gathered in his amazingly massive backpack. The troupe waited a little more and continued heading down, as a dim blue light grew nearer and shined a bit brighter.

At one point, even if things seemed much safer now than earlier, Anna-Pom tripped.

However, with her fast reflexes, she managed to create ground at the tip of a formation and stood, now much further than the others, looking into the blue waters on her left and informing the troupe that they were closer than Bancho speculated. Many rocks blocked the steep path, and she heard muffled waterfalls in the distance.

Acknowledging her announcement, the troupe decided to resign from their earlier plans of rest in a nice warm and big hole, continuing further into the grottos. They climbed down and plunged themselves into the very shallow waters, revealing a nicely lit-up, wide and large cavern.

There were parts when the ceiling almost fell and squeezed tightly, or corridors which Pollimer barely fit through. Their goal was to reach the mentioned waterfall, and when they did, they went right under the grandiose sight, looking above at sharp rocks and uneven patterns on the ceiling. Behind the blue wall, stood a rocky and dirty shore, and the caves afterwards were utterly dark.

They slept for a few hours and woke up to the dim blue lights. While walking along the darkened corridors, Pollimer felt obligated to talk a little about the place they went through.

A few years back, Mirillians found the greatest crystals and materials they used in the most resistant of tools, leaving deep holes in the shallow surface (Ambrosia fell into one). The place itself was called Callum's Sight, as it was the name of the Mirillian which kept mining without following caves to find the quickest way to the watery grotto that he swore he saw in his dreams.

The direct path from Soban has crashed down on itself since then, and Pollimer talked about how it took him three years to find new and safe corridors navigating here, but by then, everything that was meant to be found was already in Soban, so he kept mining for two more.

Through the dug-out halls, they reached very tall caverns, blocked by seed-like, gigantic boulders, clumped into twos or threes, which Pollimer had to climb on, while the others barely squeezed through. All in all, the time it took the rest of the troupe to wiggle around the boulders was equal to the efforts Pollimer had to take to find a way above. There were seven more boulders like these, and at one point Elton found a few tools laid around, mostly elshuims and pickaxes, but a few blunt or sharp swords here and there, which he put into his massive backpack.

This was a signal to Pollimer, a second one since the caves started gradually shifting. The colours changed from a dark grey, even black at times to a light one with a greenish tint, completed by occasional moss growing around here and there and a weird dampness to everything in the area, which reminded Morio and Jyuzou of the Uno forests and mountains in Morta, but Pollimer quickly informed that they were closer to the Plateaus if anything.